Projects

March

A Section 216 study will investigate the appropriate future disposition of Lower St. Anthony Falls (LSAF) Lock and Dam and Lock and Dam 1, located on the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The LSAF Lock and Dam was constructed as part of the Minneapolis Upper Harbor project in 1956 as authorized by the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1937. Lock and Dam 1 was originally constructed in 1917 and was modified in 1932 under the authority of the River and Harbor Act of 1930. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operates and maintains the two sites. Both locks have been affected by the decrease in the demand for navigation services stemming from the closure of Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam on June 9, 2015. This disposition study will examine the benefits and costs of continuing to operate LSAF and Lock and Dam 1.

Non-structural embankment repair projects at Locks and Dams 2 through 10 will address restoring embankments to meet current design standards. Most dam embankments are currently protected from the erosive forces of water by a layer of riprap placed along the embankment’s length. When the riprap eventually erodes, the embankment itself will erode if more protection is not added. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has designed and placed berms and small islands to assist in reducing wave action and wind fetch within pools created by the locks and dams. Reducing these forces increases the longevity of the embankment protections.

The Red River of the North rises in Lake Traverse near Wheaton, Minnesota and flows north towards Canada and ultimately to Lake Winnipeg. The Red River Basin Commission (RRBC) produced the Long Term Flood Study (LTFS) in 2011 after the 2009 event. Minnesota and North Dakota expressed the need for a coordinated, comprehensive, proactive plan that responds to and mitigates flooding and flood damages throughout the Red River Watershed.

Much of the floodplain forest in the Reno Bottoms project area has been declining in coverage over the past several decades. Current Pool 9 water management and flow through the Lock and Dam 8 embankment have shifted the floodplain forest distribution to higher elevations than pre-impoundment conditions. Without active management, floodplain forest in the Reno Bottoms project area is likely to continue to degrade. The proposed project goals include protecting, maintaining and restoring floodplain hardwood forests to levels that are sustainable. The 14,000 acre Reno Bottoms area is located within the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge in Houston County, Minnesota and Allamakee County, Iowa and is in Pool 9 between river miles 671‒682.

The Mississippi River Headwaters Project consists of six headwaters dams in north-central Minnesota. Cross Lake, Gull Lake, Big Sandy Lake, Lake Winnibigoshish, Pokegama Lake and Leech Lake make up the headwaters lakes system. They were constructed or reconstructed between 1900 and 1913 (work on Pokegama started in 1884 and Winnibigoshish in 1885) to aid navigation on the Mississippi River between St. Paul, Minnesota, and Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.

The mission of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is to deliver vital public and military engineering services; partnering in peace and war to strengthen our nation’s security, energize the economy and reduce risks from disasters.

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